1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for minimizing damage to automobiles involved in accidents or collisions. More particularly, the invention relates to a computer processor based system for predicting a collision and deploying an external air bag for protecting a roadway vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various schemes have been adopted to protect the passengers of a vehicle from injuries resulting from collisions. On the other hand, no proposals have been made to reduce the cost of repair or replacement of an automobile involved in a collision. Numerous attempts in the art from bumper construction to air bags to vehicular control and warning systems have come about to protect the occupants of the vehicle. Despite this regard for reducing human danger, in most collisions the damage to the vehicle is unmitigated; creating substantial costs for repair or replacement.
A plethora of patents exemplify various automotive devices known for human protection. U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,878, issued Aug. 5, 1980 to Hirbod, discloses an internal air bag deployment system for protecting automobile occupants from injury during an accident. U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,137, issued Apr. 21, 1992 to Curtis, discloses an improved vehicle bumper having, internally of the bumper shell, an air bag for providing additional energy absorption upon impact. U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,497, issued Nov. 24, 1992 to Chi, discloses a system for controlling driving distances. U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,881, issued Nov. 24, 1992 to Akasu, discloses a control apparatus for maintaining a set distance of a vehicle from a leading vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,742, issued Apr. 13, 1993 to Frank et al., discloses a vehicle guidance system utilizing laser radar. U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,519, issued May 11, 1993 to Shiga et al., discloses an air bag for protecting the occupants of a vehicle upon impact. U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,037, issued May 24, 1994 to Shaw et al., discloses an automobile collision avoidance system that uses a laser radar and microprocessor for anticipating a collision and warning the driver of the possibility of the accident. Additionally, this patent discloses the control of vehicular functions such as braking. U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,072, issued Jun. 28, 1994 to Olson et al., discloses an air bag for protecting the occupant of an automobile from broadside injury by deploying the air bag from the internal side of the automobile. U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,057, issued Jul. 26, 1994 to Butsuen et al., discloses an automatic vehicular control system for altering the direction and/or speed, ultimately avoiding contact. U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,438, issued Oct. 18, 1994 to Davidian, discloses an anti-collision system for automobiles using a multiplicity of sensors and a computer processor for predicting an accident, and subsequently warning the vehicle operator of the possible danger. U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,864, issued Mar. 28, 1995 to Winner et al., discloses a system and method for controlling vehicle speed for maintaining a set safe distance from a preceding vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,357, issued Oct. 24, 1995 to Yoshioka et al., discloses an obstacle detection device for a vehicle, which upon obstacle detection, subsequently controls vehicular functions and emits an alarm warning the operator of the imminent danger. Canadian Patent Doc. No. 923,604, published Mar. 27, 1973 by Lalone et al., discloses a vehicle anti-collision automatic control system for predicting a collision between two vehicles and causing the vehicles to be slowed or stopped, avoiding a collision.
Despite the abundance of such devices, none of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.